


Victor Nikiforov vs Alexei Yagudin

by labelma



Series: Characters That I Love Completely Wrecking Bigots [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Because fuck yagudin, M/M, TW HOMOPHOBIC LANGUAGE, Victor fights Alexei Yagudin, this is exactly what it sounds like, tw mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:20:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25187821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labelma/pseuds/labelma
Summary: Victor Nikiforov giving Alexei Yagudin, figure skating's resident asshole, a piece of his mind.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Series: Characters That I Love Completely Wrecking Bigots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741822
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	Victor Nikiforov vs Alexei Yagudin

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series of works where I write characters I like confronting real people who have said and done horrible things. It's cathartic as hell, but if you don't vibe with the politics of this, don't read it. If you follow figure skating, then you'll know this is based on a real situation that happened during the 2019 Grand Prix season. Alexei Yagudin who is retired from figure skating and is now a Russian commentator spent the season bullying an American skater (whose name I have chosen not to use to protect his privacy) and calling him names because Yagudin is a terrible person. Since the skater can't tell him to fuck himself without bringing down the wrath of the Russian skating federation, I'm having Victor do it for him. Enjoy ^-^

“Ah, that looks like it hurt,” Said Yuuri as he winced in sympathy for the skater who had just taken a hard fall on a jump landing. 

Victor nodded in agreement, 

“Poor kid. He was in a car crash a few months ago, it gave him a concussion. He refused to take the season off, but it’s no doubt affecting his balance.” 

It was a common story, injured skaters rushing their recovery in order to get back onto the ice. Skaters don’t stay competitive for long, a missed season could turn into early retirement if one wasn’t careful. But despite his obvious difficulties, the skater’s program was breathtaking. It was a rendition of Schindler’s List, a song that was frankly overused, but this man breathed new life into it, playing the melody with his movements, emotion passing across his face. When he finished, both Yuuri and Victor gave him a standing ovation; he certainly deserved one. 

Yuuri was sitting in the athletes’ section of the audience, clutching Victor’s hand. His performance today had been good enough to secure him a spot in the Grand Prix Final, and while he wouldn’t be sure whether he would medal or not until the end of the long program event, he was hopeful. 

He was on his A-game this season. Having Victor as his coach and fellow competitor gave him both the reassurance and confidence to go out there and perform his best while also feeding their vicious competitive streaks. It was incredible. Yuuri squeezed his fiancé’s hand and grinned up at him. 

“What’s that look for, my love?” 

Yuuri smiled impossibly wider, 

“Nothing, I’m just happy you’re here with me.” 

Victor smirked and pulled Yuuri into a short but passionate kiss that left him breathless, staring up into the blue eyes he loved so much. 

He would have stayed lost in them if not for the sound of mean spirited sniggering below them. 

Yuuri’s eyes were drawn to two men standing at the rink level. Their heads were close together sharing a conversation too quietly for Yuuri to understand with his limited understanding of Russian, but Victor had tensed up, spine rigid, color rising in his cheeks. 

The two men had nasty smirks and hateful looks in their eyes, pointed directly towards the kiss and cry where the skater sat, clearly dismayed over his scores, which were actually quite good all things considered, but not good enough to get him into the Grand Prix Final. The look in his eyes was heartbreaking, and Yuuri wanted nothing more to go over and comfort him. He would have if he wasn’t distracted by his very angry fiancé storming towards the men. 

Yuuri stood up to quickly follow him. He had an inkling of what was going on, and if Victor was ready to throw hands, Yuuri would be right there beside him. 

“Care to repeat what you just said to me and my fiancé?” Growled Victor, voice dangerously low. Victor was usually so sweet and good-natured it was easy to forget how he could hold himself tall with such confidence and power, face thunderous. 

The two men turned around in shock, like children who had just been discovered with their hand in the cookie jar. Except these weren’t children, and their actions were far less innocent than sneaking a treat. 

Yuuri pursed his lips as he recognized one of the men. 

Alexei Yagudin, former Russian skating champion. Resident asshole. Yuuri knew Victor had clashed with him before. The man had opinions that didn’t line up with theirs, to put it mildly. 

Yagudin snorted, looked them both up and down. 

“Nikivorof, Katsuki, good to see you. Congratulations on qualifying for the Grand Prix. So what happens when one of you beats the other? How will the relationship survive?” 

Yagudin’s voice was dripping with sarcasm and disdain. Yuuri had his hackles raised, ready to respond in kind when Victor snarled. He stepped closer into the man’s space, forcing him to back up against the rink wall. 

“How dare you comment on my relationship? How dare you speak about another skater, a fellow athlete like I just overheard?” 

“I’m just looking out for the integrity of th-“ 

“No, you’re a washed-up bigot who can’t get any attention otherwise so he has to resort to badmouthing other skaters. You’re a disgrace to figure skating, and you’re a disgrace to Russia.” 

Victor was seething. His chest was puffed up, shoulders squared, jaw tense. Yuuri rarely saw this side of him. 

Yagudin’s eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into a sneer, 

“At least I’m not a disgusting faggot like you are.” 

Yuuri barely has time to react before Victor was shoving the Russian into the rink barrier and punching him in the face. The fight didn’t last long, Yuuri immediately pulled Victor back, arms wrapped securely around him to ensure he wouldn’t surge forward again in anger. 

Yuuri looked down to see Yagudin still leaning against the barrier, blood dripping from his nose. A rush of satisfaction ran through his body. 

“What the hell is happening here?” Asked an official who had been drawn by the commotion. 

“Nikivorof attacked me!” Shouted Yagudin indignantly. 

“After you verbally harassed us, as well as another skater. That’s hate speech.” Responded Yuuri. He was boiling with rage but he had to remain calm for Victor who was still shaking in his arms with unspent energy. 

“Yagudin, this is the third harassment report, you really do want to get yourself banned from future ISU events?” The man turned to Yuuri and Victor who were still standing off to the side, “And you cannot go around punching people at competitions. Go get your hand cleaned up.” 

Another official came to usher them away but Victor shook her off. 

“It’s okay, I’ll take care of it,” Yuuri said placatingly to the woman. He put his arm around Victor’s waist and guided him away from the rink towards the back. 

They walked together for a few minutes trying to find somewhere that was sufficiently private. Victor was still breathing heavily, and Yuuri knew how despite Victor’s openness and shameless personality, he was actually a very private person, he liked to keep his feelings close to the vest. Yuuri could feel his anger and pain, and knew he would want to hide away, at least until he could calm down. 

Yuuri found an empty bathroom, pulled Victor inside, and locked the door behind them. 

“They should have just let me kill him,” Growled Victor, “It would save everyone the displeasure of having to deal with that kozyol.”

“As satisfying as that would be, it would be hard to get married if you’re in prison. He’s not worth it.” 

Victor sighed and hung his head. Yuuri took hold of his left hand. The knuckles were split and bloody. Yuuri pulled him towards the sink and maneuvered Victor’s hand under the faucet before turning it on. Victor hissed in pain when the cold water hit his injured knuckles. Yuuri squeezed his hand reassuringly.   
“It’s not just that they’re homophobic you know,” said Victor once his hand had been cleaned. 

“Hm? What do you mean?” asked Yuuri. 

“I mean, they definitely are.” Said Victor with an eye roll, “Russia isn’t exactly known for its queer acceptance, lord knows I ran into enough bigotry growing up. If I wasn’t such a good skater the Kremlin would have probably taken me out by now.”

He’s joking. Yuuri knows he’s joking, but well, it was Russia, and Russia isn’t exactly known for their allowance of civil liberties. 

Victor continues, 

“But it’s also defensiveness. When most people think of figure skating, they think of the glittery costumes, of the drama, the romance. They forget figure skating is a sport, a hard one too. People like Yagudin, they want respect for the sport and the dedication it takes to compete at this level. And I get that, I do. I want it too. But they think the reason we aren’t respected like other athletes is that figure skating is a feminine sport. And maybe there is some truth to that, but the solution is certainly not to fag bash male figure skaters into performing a hypermasculine role. Figure skating is a beautiful sport. But it’s beautiful because it comes from the heart. When I heard Yagudin bashing that skater for his stunningly emotional program, I just saw red. I wanted to kill him. And he had no right to bash him for not being able to jump quads. There’s more to skating than jumps. Not that Yagudin ever knew that during his competitive career.” 

Yuuri brought his hand up to Victor’s cheek, forced him to meet his eyes. 

“You’re right. But the best way to fight that is to just keep being yourself. I know that sounds stupid, but you’re one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. You broke records, won countless medals, and you did it all without sacrificing who you are. You don’t need to beat Yagudin up to prove to him that skating can be worthwhile without the hypermasculinity, you’ve already done it. You’ve done it by beating him and his records into the ground time and time again. And you’ll keep doing it, and I’ll keep doing it. And so will the next generation of skaters who look up to you. Soon they won’t even remember Yagudin’s name.” 

Yuuri’s throat was hot with tears. 

“Victor, you have no idea how much you mean to all those young skaters who watch you, to your fans. To me. I wouldn’t even be here without you. I’d have retired a year ago.”

“It wasn’t me. You did it yourself.” 

Yuuri smiled. So Victor could be humble sometimes.   
“Only with your help. Yagudin is an asshole. Everyone knows it. We just have to keep going out there and proving that figure skaters can be respectable and also gay as hell.” 

Finally, Victor laughed and Yuuri’s heart soared. There was still color in his cheeks but his eyes which were previously dark and stormy had lightened with laughter. Yuuri tilted his face up and pressed his lips to Victor. The kiss was short and chaste, no more than a peck really. 

“I love you so much,” whispered Victor reverently. 

Yuuri smiled. He never got sick of hearing those words. 

“I love you too.” Yuuri’s lips turned up mischievously, “Now I wasn’t going to say anything before, but seeing you like that, full of righteous anger, it was kinda turning me on.” 

Victor quirked an eyebrow, 

“Oh? Is that so?” 

Yuuri grinned and dropped to his knees. He could see Victor’s pupils dilate and felt his breath pick up. 

“Mhm. I’ll prove it to you.”

* * *

When they finally leave the bathroom, they find the press wants a statement from Victor. High on endorphins, he handles them with his signature grace, almost as if he had never lost his cool to begin with. Yuuri thinks, not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, that he is so grateful to have Victor in his life. He loves him, more than he thought it was possible to love another person. So much that sometimes he thinks his chest will burst with it. And he’s so proud too. Proud of everything his fiance overcame to get to where he was currently. Proud of himself for becoming a person worthy of Victor’s love. And he knows that they will continue to support and push each other higher and higher, never sacrificing their love, or their dedication to the sport. And that’s ultimately the best way to prove Yagudin wrong. To keep winning, yes, but also to keep loving each other. And that is something Yuuri knows they’ll have no problem doing.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to reach out to me on tumblr if you want to scream about figure skating or YOI. And please let me know if you have any suggestions for what I should write next in this series!


End file.
